About the Festival
Every year choristers from around Australia (and on occasion from overseas) come together in one of our capital cities (Perth, Melbourne, Hobart, Brisbane, Adelaide, Sydney and Canberra) for the long-awaited two weeks of the IVCF, most commonly referred to simply as "IV".
Over a day or two some 100-200 choristers descend on the city by bike, plane, train, boat, van and car and head straight to the Camp. The camp generally lasts for the first week of the festival and involves day-long rehearsals bringing everyone rapidly up to date with the music for the concerts in the second week. Along with the intense rehearsal schedule come the social activities such as the President's Pyjamas, the Revue Night, and the Sculling.
When camp is over the IV moves to the city, pushing the billeting capacity of the local choirs to the limit. The second week of IV sees more rehearsals, and also the major concerts of the festival - often involving the local state orchestra and accomplished soloists. The social activities in the second week include the Academic Dinner, the Post-concert Parties (PCPs) and the Recovery Barbecue. At the dinner speeches are made and the trophies for the Sculling (and other events) are presented. At the Recovery Barbecue people say their goodbyes until the next time and head back off home.
Being part of an IVCF is generally held to be a fantastic experience, and one to be repeated again and again - indeed, there are many participants in IVs who are no longer attending their local choir but who still return once a year to be part of the AICSA community.
Perth IV
Perth IV 2011 will be held during Summer 2011. You can read about the music and concerts we will be performing, the rehearsal camp. at which we'll learn most of the music, the various traditional IV events, we'll be holding, have some of the strange IV terms explained to you... and then when you've decided that there's no way you can afford to miss this festival, you can proceed to the registration page and sign yourself up! Once signed up, you should at least have a look at the necessities page , ie. the stuff you will need to bring with you.
If, however you're intrigued or puzzled or confused by anything, please have a look at our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) list and hopefully everything will start to make sense... but if that doesn't help, feel free to email our friendly convenor and she will lead you on the path to enlightenment.
